Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

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TownTalk: Gerald Alston’s Sound System Helped To Launch His Musical Career

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The way Gerald Alston sees it, the difference in today’s popular R&B music and that of just a few decades ago is clear: the older music tells a story and leaves room for the listener’s imagination. Not so much with today’s R&B.

“There’s no room for imagination,” Alston said of the newer music. “Artists come out and say exactly what they’re doing.”

Alston spoke by phone to WIZS’s Bill Harris on Monday’s Town Talk. And just like the music that he and The Manhattans perform, the Henderson native shared stories about getting his start in music and reminisced about working with many big-time R&B groups.

A lot of today’s hiphop music is based on the foundation laid by R&B greats, he said. The music The Manhattans and so many others are known for “told stories about life that people could identify with,” he said.

Alston has played concerts across the globe – from South Africa and South America to Great Britain and McGregor Hall, right here in Henderson. The group has played for more than two hours to 15,000 concertgoers in South Africa, he said. “They know our music to a T. Those fans sang every song we performed for two and a half hours,” Alston said. “Our music has been passed down to their children and they still honor that – they realize the importance and quality of it.”

The group has evolved over the years, but The Manhattans are still performing and recording. These days, it’s Alston, Troy May and Dave Tyson who comprise the group.

Their newest album of music, The Manhattans featuring Gerald Alston: The Legacy Continues, is available on their website, www.letsjustkissandsaygoodbye.com.

The website name is a nod to the group’s most successful song, but Alston’s association with The Manhattans began a few years before that song was released in 1976. Alston was attending Kittrell College and agreed to let The Manhattans borrow his sound system for a concert there. “I had no idea they were coming,” he said. Well, as he was testing the system out – by singing, of course – in walked the group that he would later be asked to join. He opened the show for them at Kittrell College and a short time later, the manager caught up with him. He had been booked on a flight to Dallas to join the group. The manager had already been in touch with Alston’s parents, who’d signed the contract since Alston was under age.

“I came back to New York and rehearsed for a few weeks and then I started singing with The Manhattans,” he explained.

The Manhattans weren’t the first group that Alston was a part of; he and his cousin, Dwight Fields (son of Johnny Fields, of Blind Boys of Alabama fame) put a group together that lasted through high school.

Alston, 69, remembers those early days well, from the days when he opened for B.B. King and the man got a standing ovation BEFORE he started playing, to meeting the family of the late Sam Cooke after Alston produced a record of Cooke’s songs.

“I had been wanting to do that for a long time,” Alston recalled. Although his idea had been to do one gospel side and one R&B side, it became two separate albums. Cooke’s brother, L.C. Cooke, did the liner notes for the album. “He said, ‘your album is a true tribute album –  you are singing all of his songs the way you feel them, the way you interpret them,” Alston said.

People who listen to music solely through streaming services and not by actually playing a record album or a CD don’t get the same experience, Alston said. Music lovers who still spin vinyl, however, are still out there enjoying the full experience.

“You can go to Great Britain, South Africa, Japan, South America,” he said. “Those fans can tell you literally the year you recorded, the studio, the musicians, the words –  the year you were at Columbia Records, the  engineers –  it’s incredible. There’s so much history on the physical vinyl, it’s good to have.”

TownTalk Interview with Gerald Alston

The Local Skinny! WOVEN to Sharpen Your Workplace Skills

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Women Of Vance Empowered Networking

WOVEN is a Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce sponsored program to provide networking and professional development opportunities to women in the workplace throughout Vance County and the area.

Guest speaker Cherrelle Lawrence, the Dean of Corporate Learning & Professional Development at Vance Granville Community College and Dean for the Franklin Campus in Louisburg, will help sharpen your skills to advance in the workplace on July 14th at noon.

For $20 per attendee, which includes a box lunch, you can attend at Vance Granville Community College Civic Center.

To register, call 252-438-8414 or email christa@hendersonvance.org.  Seating is limited.

Dean Lawrence earned her Master of Business Administration in 2020 from East Carolina University. Prior to returning to VGCC, Dean Lawrence was the Assistant Director of Employer Relations at Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill.

TownTalk: Town Of Kittrell Has An Interesting Story To Tell

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Kittrell Drew Visitors From All Over With Mineral Springs, Hotels…

Is it possible that the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1901 could have played even a small role in the fate of the Vance County town of Kittrell?

Maybe.

Driving on US 1 through Kittrell today, you’d never know that Kittrell had been home to hotels and resorts that drew visitors from all over. People convalescing from tuberculosis came for the mineral springs and Northerners came to hunt and escape cold winters, according to Mark Pace, local historian. Pace and Bill Harris shared stories about the tiny town of Kittrell on Thursday’s Town Talk as part of an ongoing conversation about local history.

“Kittrell really takes off when the railroad came through,” said Mark Pace, during Thursday’s Town Talk with co-host Bill Harris. In the late 1800’s it was called Kittrell’s Depot – plural because there were two depots, one for passengers and one for commercial use. About the time that the railroad came through, they found a mineral spring, which launched a host of hotels and lodges that brought people from all over to the small Vance County town.

Back at the turn of the 20th century, Census records showed that Kittrell had 168 residents – just about what it has today. But that number back in 1900 is half of what the population had been just 10 years earlier.

Why the drop? “The hotels had closed up by that point,” Pace said.

“Kittrell had its day,” he said. It had its own downtown district, hotels – it was famous throughout the South, complete with fine old homes and historic buildings.

Several families, including the Kittrells, gave land for the railroad to come through. “Kittrell really takes off when the railroad comes through,” Pace said. In the mid-1850’s, the town was called Kittrells – because there were two train depots, one for passengers headed to the hotels and resorts and a second for freight. Along about the time the railroad began chugging through, there was a discovery of a mineral springs. And from the late 1850’s until World War 1, Kittrell was in its heyday.

Over a period of about 30 years, there were four hotels in Kittrell: Located where the Dollar General now stands was Kittrell Springs. It could accommodate 600 guests; and the Davis Hotel, or Glass House, had space for 800 people.

The Glass House, so named because glass porches on either side of the hotel was where people with tuberculosis could be cared for indoors by staff nurses while enjoying the sunlight. The destination was so popular, folks even rented out rooms in private homes. In 1867, Pace said that all the hotels 500 people were turned away. There was no more room.

But after the Golden Era of the resort – after the end of the Civil War and just prior to World War I – interest in Kittrell fell off.

The healing and restorative powers of the mineral springs were largely debunked by the Pure Food and Drug Act. And the bottled water, promising help to those suffering from dyspepsia to female ailments, lost traction in the national market.

The hotels and opera houses, billiard rooms and downtown district are long gone. But the stories remain.

For complete details and audio click play.

 

Archie Taylor, Jr.

Taylor Named 2020 Citizen Of The Year At 83rd Annual Chamber Meeting

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Col. Archie B. Taylor, Jr. was named Vance County’s 2020 Citizen of the Year during the 83rd annual meeting of the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce, held virtually on Thursday, June 17.

Taylor is retired from the military and, upon returning to Vance County, immersed himself in community activities, from working with the Vance County Public School Foundation to the Embassy Cultural Center Foundation, and many other things besides.

In accepting the award, Taylor thanked the Chamber for the honor. He said he grew up in Vance County, working in tobacco fields and picking cucumbers. When it was time for him to retire, said “the only place I wanted to come back to was Vance County.”

Taylor accepted the award from the 2019 recipients, Tommy and Carolyn Farmer. This year’s winner “has been involved in volunteerism on just about every level of local community service since his retirement:  a supporter of area youth programs, an advocate for improved education, a civic leader, a promoter of the arts, a financial backer for non-profit causes, and a champion for quality medical care in our community.”

The Farmers said Taylor’s “community spirit is admirable” as they shared some of his accomplishments and his involvement with local groups. He is a member of Rotary and is a Paul Harris Fellow; he has given many hours of his time serving the Boy Scouts in a hands-on fashion to raise funds or to help start new troops in the Occoneechee Counci. He has received the George Watkins-Awahili District Citizen of the Year, one of the highest honors in scouting.

Taylor also is a member of the board of trustees for Maria Parham Health; and his support of Henderson Collegiate and the Vance County Public School Foundation all contribute to Taylor’s selection as the Citizen of the Year.

He stepped in as chairman of the foundation board and has continued in that leadership role for more than 15 years.

“He has been instrumental in making sure the Foundation’s primary fundraiser, Arts Alive,  a student art, music, and drama spotlight production, became a reality and continued each year,” they added.  “Under his leadership and with his active involvement, the Vance County Public School Foundation has supported and awarded student achievement, scholastic growth in the schools, teacher recruitment and retention efforts, and advanced innovative programs such as STEM.  His education endeavors also involve being active in the support and promotion of the Henderson Collegiate School.”

Taylor was nominated by numerous members of the community, and those nominators described him as a “small town diplomat,” a “roll-up-your-sleeves worker,” and someone who always wants what is “best for the community,” and a “model citizen who puts in the time and effort and energy to make our city and county a better place.”

S-Line Rail Corridor

TownTalk: Downtown Development Manager Shares Updates On Projects

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Picture this: The S Line rail passengers, bound from Charlotte to Richmond, stop in the late afternoon at the Henderson Depot. As they emerge from the train, they’re making decisions – Where to dine? Want to take in tonight’s show at McGregor Hall? Which downtown hotel or bed and breakfast should I try tonight? The stopover in Henderson has become a welcome break in the trip, a respite filled with food, nightlife and tranquil lodging.

When you dream, dream big.

And when there’s an opportunity to get closer to making that dream a reality, make sure to check it out.

That just may be what Tracy Madigan has experienced in her first months as Henderson’s downtown development manager. The dreams are alive and the opportunities are presenting themselves.S-Line Rail Corridor

Madigan spoke with John C. Rose on Wednesday’s Town Talk about her new role and what’s on the horizon to make downtown a more attractive destination for visitors – and prospective businesses.

As for the train stopping again in Henderson, she said there was to have been a meeting today with state officials to share just why Henderson needs to be a stop on the S Line.

“There are all kinds of ideas in the works,” Madigan said. But they are merely ideas, waiting for decisions to be made. Henderson and Franklinton are being studied for possible train stops. A stop in Henderson could open up lots of possibilities for downtown development, she added.

While the train stop may be more of a long-term project, Madigan mentioned several areas downtown that have already gotten a facelift – namely, lights at the reflection pools and fountains near the city fire station, the construction of an outdoor pavilion/amphitheater by McGregor Hall  and the beautification of Orange Street Park.

With help from Sam Franklin and Franklin Brothers Nursery, the summer plantings are in at the park, and some garden benches are coming soon to that greenspace, nestled beside the Henry A. Dennis Building on Garnett Street.

“You should be seeing the lights in the fountains coming on in the next couple of weeks,” Madigan said. This is the first of several water installations that are planned around the city, she added.

The pavilion, an outdoor venue option for events, is under construction. Tommy Roberson, of Robco Manufacturing and Alumadock Marine Structures, is a pavilion benefactor, she said.

The vision of the downtown development commission is to assist with, help and encourage downtown development and economic vitality, she said. Often, city and county entities collaborate to further the mission.

Although she is a city employee and reports to City Manager Terrell Blackmon, Madigan said, she often collaborates with other agencies and government officials. Vance Economic Development Director Christian Lockamy and Chamber of Commerce President Michele Burgess are two individuals who continue to provide extensive support and help.

One long-range goal is to develop incentives in the form of grants to help businesses – existing and prospective – have an impact in the downtown area. There are smaller incentive grants that are available, but Madigan said she hopes to be able to offer larger grants in the future.

Click Play for Today’s Full TownTalk

TownTalk: NWS Predicts Above Average Hurricane Season

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Summer’s On The Doorstep And That Means Hurricane Season Is, Too

Summer is still officially about a week away, but Jonathan Blaes, meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service office in Raleigh says it’s not too soon to be thinking about having a plan in case of a hurricane.

Blaes said Tuesday that the first two named storms have posed no threat to North Carolina, but the June to November hurricane season is shaping up to be another busy one for weather forecasters. And he’s watching another system in the Gulf of Mexico that could bring our area rain in the next three to five days.

“This season is likely to be another busy one,” he said. He said last year was an extreme year, and this year is shaping up along the same lines.

He told Bill Harris and John C. Rose on Town Talk that this is the seventh consecutive year that a tropical storm has developed before the normal June start date. There’s even talk about changing the official start date to May 15 because of this, he said. “The weather doesn’t really know the calendar very well – that’s for people to worry about,” Blaes said.

TownTalk Broadcast with Jonathan Blaes

Meteorologists must deal with more and more data in their jobs, and artificial intelligence is one tool that helps target more meaningful data to make their forecasts. But Blaes said it’s important to know when to rely on computer models. “There are certain patterns where humans add a great deal of value to forecast,” he said. One example is cold air damming or “the wedge.”

In winter, when temperatures hover in the 30s and 40s for days, “the wedge” sits over the area and computer models struggle with just how long the weather pattern will last. “Sometimes, we (humans) can beat the models,” Blaes said. But at other times, such as accurately predicting the track a hurricane will take, it’s best to leave it to computers.

“Weather likes balance,” Blaes said, “and to be honest, that’s what a hurricane does.” Hurricanes are nature’s way to remove excess moisture and heat from one area of the globe and put it somewhere else – the Atlantic Ocean supports development of a Bermuda high pressure system, which “hurricanes tend not to be able to drive through,” Blaes said.

Depending on where that high is set up that often will dictate the path a hurricane takes, he added.

“There’s a reason we have a rich history in this area,” he added. Hurricanes oftentimes graze us, and sometimes crush us.”